2011 NCAA Tournament: Will This Be the Weakest Field Ever in the Big Dance?

When the NCAA Tournament begins on March 15th, there will be 68 teams competing for the national title.  If you look at the current top 25 college basketball poll, you will notice some familiar names like Ohio State, Duke and Kansas, but you may also notice a few other things. 

This year’s top 25 may be the weakest in recent memory.  There are no teams that look unbeatable and that might mean the weakest field ever in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Weak Top 10

The top 10 teams in college hoops are good but not great.  Ohio State and Kansas are the top two teams, but no one is comparing them to powerhouse teams of the past.  Neither team is one you really want to step out on say that they will win the title. 

Ohio State is probably the best team in the country while Kansas is right there as well, but the rest of the top 10 is nothing special.  BYU was actually ranked No. 3 this past week and they are not much more than a one-man team with Jimmer Fredette. 

The Cougars won’t be ranked in the top five when the NCAA Tournament starts as they lost at home to New Mexico the same week they moved up to No. 3.  Pittsburgh was No. 4 and they are a good team but they are not great.

Duke has been in the top five most of the year, but this is not the same Duke team that won the title last year.  Purdue and Notre Dame are also good teams but you don’t think of either team as dominant. 

Then you have teams like Texas, San Diego State and Wisconsin rounding out the top 10.  In previous years those teams would not be ranked in the top 10. It gets worse as you go down the poll.  Teams like Arizona, Utah State and Texas A&M are actually ranked in the top 25.

Weaker Field Means More March Madness

While it might sound like a weaker NCAA Tournament field is a bad thing, that is not necessarily true.  When there are no dominant teams, the chances for upsets increase and that is what everyone loves about March Madness.

Sports run in cycles and for a few years it was all about top teams in college basketball.  The 2007 and 2008 NCAA Tournaments were about as predictable as you could get with the 2008 tourney having all four of the top seeds playing in the Final Four.  That changed last year as the 2010 tournament was very unpredictable, and this year’s tournament could be even more chaotic.